Jeffrey Chappell was born in Newmarket, Ontario and grew up in East Gwillimbury, where he is also currently living. He attended Huron Heights Secondary School in Newmarket and then went on to Sheridan College in Oakville. He has stayed actively involved in the arts scene in Ontario, from participating and training in the (former) Sears Ontario Drama Festival, mentoring and lecturing at colleges and high schools, to working at Canada’s Wonderland, GFA Fireworks, Nuit Blanche Toronto and community theatre in Newmarket and the rest of York Region.
In 2010 after a successful run at the Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics, Jeffrey made a jump to full-time travelling with Cirque du Soleil joining the production of Kooza for its Japanese tour. Since then he has ventured to Europe, South America, Australia and Singapore. Working to keep an established show touring was an enjoyable challenge, but looking for new challenges, he accepted the offer to return to Canada to take on the role of Head of Lighting for the new arena tour creation of Corteo. This tour introduced new lighting technologies and challenges that will keep him very busy while it makes its way around North America until mid-august of 2019, and then onto Europe starting in September.
What ‘hood are you in?
I currently call York Region home base, but I reside in the world and on tour.
What do you do?
I’m a Touring Electrician/Production Management and also do Special Effects.
What are you currently working on?
I’m the Touring Head of Lighting for Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo, which is currently touring arenas across North America. Here’s a video of me talking about Corteo and what it’s like to work with 112 moving lights: https://www.facebook.com/Corteo/videos/346176082593284/.
Where can we find your work?
Corteo will presented at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena (formerly the Air Canada Centre) from December 12 – 16, 2018. From there, The show will travel throughout the United States and Canada until September 2019, including stops in London, Hamilton and Windsor in the early summer. Corteo will then tour Europe from September 2019 on.
If you are interested in checking out the CORTEO show in Toronto, visit their website for info and tickets.
